Winston Churchill, The Second World War Complete in all Six Volumes, First or Revised Editions
Title: The Second World War - Six Volumes
Publisher: Publisher: Cassell & Co. Ltd., London, 1948-54
Publication Date: 1948-54
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good, No Dust Jacket
Editions: 1st Edition
First edition (hardcover) in six volumes
The Gathering Storm (1948)
Their Finest Hour (1950) - New edition, revised, published 1950
The Grand Alliance (1950)
The Hinge of Fate (1951)
Closing the Ring (1952)
Triumph and Tragedy (1954)
Black cloth covers, spines lettered in gilt, with WINSTON | CHURCHILL, main title, roman numeral I-VI at head and CASSELL at foot. Top page edges of Volumes 3, 5 & 6 are stained dark red. 8vo. All volumes are variously illustrated with many foldout maps and diagrams.
Churchill's complete six volume classic memoirs on WWII, the period from the end of the First World War to July 1945. Churchill labelled the "moral of the work" as follows: "In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill". The titles of the volumes are The Gathering Storm; Their Finest Hour; The Grand Alliance; The Hinge of Fate; Closing the Ring; and Triumph and Tragedy. Volume I with author's paper slip note tipped-in after his preface. 6 volumes. Some illustrated with plates of facsimiles and maps (many of which are folding); charts and tables.
The first volume of Winston Churchills six-volume memoirs as a statesman and leader during World War II, The Gathering Storm begins with his thoughts on World War I - and how its ending laid the foundations for the next global conflict.
The second volume of Winston Churchills six-volume autobiographical account of World War II, Their Finest Hour picks up where The Gathering Storm left off - with the fall of France to Hitlers forces and Britains stand as the lone defender against the Nazi war machine.
In this third volume of a six-volume series, Their Finest Hour, Winston Churchill draws upon thousands of personal memoranda, war correspondence, and internal government memos to describe the full entry of the US into World War II - adding considerable strength to British military operations and morale.
At the onset of the fourth volume of Churchills eyewitness account of World War II, The Grand Alliance, prospects are bleak for the Allies. The Japanese have captured Singapore and Burma in a series of bold offensives; meanwhile, aggressive U-boat attacks in the Atlantic were preventing American, British, and Dutch shipping vessels from supplying the war effort. Rommel was turning the tide toward Axis forces in North Africa. Meanwhile, Hitler was pushing inexorably toward Stalingrad. Churchill faced challenges in the field--and considerable criticism at home.
The fifth in Winston Churchills six-volume account of World War II, Closing the Ring, picks up at the dawn of a more optimistic time for the Allied forces. After considerable struggle, the balance has finally shifted toward the Allies - and in this volume Churchill documents the drive toward victory.
In the final volume of the six-volume series The Second World War, titled Triumph and Tragedy, the tide of war has turned in the Allies favor and Japan's surrender is imminent. Even so, the Allies find themselves powerless to halt the advance of Russia and lay the groundwork for lasting peace. Churchill himself is seeing his time of leadership come to a close.
All of Churchill’s revisions and “overtake corrections” were scrupulously entered by Cassell which, combined with two- and three-color textual maps and many finely printed folding maps, makes this English Edition aesthetically pleasing.
Condition: The books are in very good condition, tightly bound, with foxing throughout.
Specific photos available on request.
